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WOW! November has been a busy month and it’s only the 12th!!! I have had more work and filming go down so far in the past two weeks that I can hardly believe it And I got to say…I owe most of it to my friends.

The creative team behind our new media movement and Youtube channel, LIKE A BOSS TV, is stellar to say the least. Several creative film makers comprised of actors, directors, producers, vfx gurus, cosplayers, geeks, and gamers all coming together to create high quality content for a channel that is nothing less than radical! LIKE A BOSS TV is pretty much the product of AWESOME running a train on EPIC…yep…that’s how I just described it.

Even with that said, the hate has flowed here in Portland. And I love every minute of it. Why? Because no one even knows what we have been up to with the exception of a few “behind the scenes” shots. This proves my theory 100%. People here are bitter, close-minded, egotistical film elitists with the exception of a few. Running one’s mouth and trying to derail other people’s projects seems to be the weapons of choice. And I LOVE the prim a dona actors here! It’s okay though…this is why I have chosen to only work work with my friends now. 😉 The haters can keep taking pot shots and chop at the knees…but just read the title to this post.

On top of that…we don’t need anyone’s “approval” here and this project goes way beyond Portland, Oregon. Besides…we have AWESOME FANS! Just look below! Woohoo!

When I dived into new media several years ago, I one day dreamed of being picked up by an online distributor and have my show marketed around the world! It’s almost the equivalent to Christmas morning, doing the paperwork and waiting for your show to be released. But…along with my dream came massive disappointment as I now talk to other creators, attend panels, and see just what is going on here.

Creators…are being raped. There are several distributors out there for web content and some have the opportunity to take their show and instantly have it picked up. Others struggle in finding distribution or are rejected by many of the web media moguls. I have talked to many an individual who have jumped at the opportunity to sign their show and have not read the fine print. Along with this comes the fact that many “high ups” will chat with you and make things sound glorious and perfect and make it sound like your web series will have a guaranteed audience with a good little income. What they don;t tell you is that after you sign those papers…they’ll change your show…after you have watched one of your episodes get one million views…they’ll tell you there’s third party costs involved and the original CPM they quoted is now defunct. These are just a few examples.

It is a dishonest way of doing things. I personally have dealt with signing with a distributor only to have them massively revamp a trailer we submitted (this happened a few years ago). And why aren’t a few of the major outlets not supplying their content creators with daily numbers? I currently have a friend who has not received numbers for his series in weeks! Get with the program here!

If we wanted to deal with the way Hollywood works, we’d be making features and festival shorts. We wouldn’t be working in the space where we still have control and say (so we thought!). Why are some of the bigger shows who have found a voice not stepping up and helping the smaller series? I mean, this is supposed to be a drastically different avenue where us as creators help one another. I could list about five major web series who I have found to be quite clicky and have no reason to be. At the end of the day, you’re just like everyone else. And you should use your audience to help make a change for the others within new media. The main problem here is that these shows are marketed heavily by some of the exact distributors I speak of and see no issues as a lot of us do.

Koldcast, Blip Tv, Youtube, and a slew of others are all major distributors. My personal experiences with Koldcast, unfortunately, have never been good. Time and time again they have disappointed and are currently disappointing SEVERAL other creators that have signed on with them. Blip Tv has been rather wonderful with only two exceptions. They lack on marketing for your show. This is where Koldcast does exceed…they really push your series (but what good does that do to only be told your income won’t reflect it’s numbers). Blip also has a terrible response system meaning you have no real way of contacting someone…much like when you have a problem with your cell provider and just can’t get a damn person on the phone! I cannot speak much about Youtube with the exception of saying that there “Partner” program is ridiculous these days. Good luck applying as I have been told on numerous occasions from their own automatic response that some videos have copy written material and therefor they cannot accept the material into their partnering program.

I think the main issue I cannot stand here is creators being lied to or mislead when talking to some of these distributors. If you were told something or signed documents, you need to hold their feet to the fire because sure enough, someone like Koldcast will most definitely hold your nose to the grindstone if push comes to shove on a matter.

We need to take a stand against many of these outlets. We are supplying them with our works that we have put blood, sweat, and tears into. We shouldn’t be swayed and treated as we are just do to the fact that “woohoo, our show’s getting picked up!”. We need to speak out and make sure these distributors pay what they say, market us as promised, and not speak with false tongue. Many of you will instantly relate to this and some of you will not. Do your research and talk to other creators.

Another interesting topic is how many good series of quality get turned down or never even talked to yet the space gets clogged with some of the worst shows ever being picked up by these same companies. One of these genres happens to be comedy. Our space is absolutely flooded with comedy series. Why? They are easy to make on a low budget. The problem is acting and writing. It takes a skilled writer to pen good humor and it takes an even better actor to deliver those lines. The over population of comedic series is gross and the fact that so many horrible comedies are being picked up is even grosser. This is why I feel most of the distributors are 100% hypocritical in what they say. They want shows of quality yet will take on damn near anything with a punchline in hopes that it will be the next “Guild”.

I wish that many of us would not hold our voices back. It’s a common problem. The same as when you see a local feature, short, or series get made and screened. When asked “what did you think?”…most compliment it and say how wonderful it is only to turn right around and bitch and moan about how terrible it really was. This way of backstabbing is undeniably common in all facets of film and is the reason why we have so much crappy content in the whole of the entertainment industry. Grow a backbone and say how you feel.